West Virginia Senate approves series of bills on rules, fees, retirement and DEI programs
April 12, 2025 | 2025 Legislature WV, West Virginia
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Senate on the floor this session adopted committee reports and approved multiple bills, acting on measures that range from authorizing rulemaking at the Department of Revenue to imposing an annual fee for certain registrants and changing retirement options for some law-enforcement personnel.
The action came during a tightly scripted floor period in which senators took up committee reports, naming resolutions and a sequence of third‑reading and concurrence votes. Several items were considered by voice vote or unanimous consent; several bills required recorded machine votes. Key outcomes included the passage of a bill authorizing the Department of Revenue to promulgate legislative rules, a measure creating a $125 annual fee tracked by state police for registrants, passage of a bill altering retirement plans for home‑confinement officers and campus police, and final Senate concurrence and passage of a bill that, as the sponsor described it, would eliminate certain diversity, equity and inclusion programs with specific exceptions added by the House.
Why it matters: the bills affect state agency authority (rulemaking), funding streams for mental‑health services connected to state police, retirement classifications for specific officer groups and state policy on institutional DEI programs. Several of the votes required supermajorities for immediate effect or other procedural thresholds; senators used unanimous consent and procedural suspensions at points to move multiple items quickly.
Votes at a glance
- House Bill 2267 (engrossed committee substitute): Authorizing the Department of Revenue to promulgate legislative rules. The Senate adopted the conference committee report and passed the bill on a recorded vote reported as 25 yeas, 8 nays, 1 absent, not voting on the conference report passage. A subsequent motion to make the bill effective from passage passed 33 yeas, 0 nays, 1 absent, not voting. (Explained on the floor by the junior senator from the sixteenth.)
- House Bill 2880 (engrossed committee substitute): Relating to parent resource navigators. The Senate adopted the conference committee report and passed the bill by recorded vote, 32 yeas, 1 nay, 1 absent, not voting. (Explained on the floor by the senator from Jefferson.)
- House Bill 3164 (engrossed committee substitute, third reading): Establishes a $125 annual fee for individuals required to register on the Central Abuse Registry or under the Offender Registration Act; payment to the circuit clerk, enforcement by state police through civil lien procedures, with revenue directed primarily toward mental‑health services for state police personnel. Sponsor remarks were offered from the senator identified on the floor as the senator from Brooke; the bill passed 33 yeas, 0 nays, 1 absent, not voting.
- Senate Bill 4 74 (committee substitute / multiple motions noted on floor): Described on the floor as intended to eliminate certain diversity, equity and inclusion programs in West Virginia; House amendments were read to clarify that the bill would not be construed to affect state institutions of higher education supportive programs intended to meet accreditation standards and would not abrogate rights under the West Virginia Human Rights Act. After procedural motions and votes (including suspensions of joint rules and calls of the previous question), the Senate concurred and the bill passed the Senate by recorded vote 31 yeas, 2 nays, 1 absent, not voting.
- Senate Bill 35 (as amended): Incorporates the contents of Senate Bill 874 and moves home confinement officers and campus police into a different retirement plan. The Senate concurred in house amendments and passed the bill by recorded vote 33 yeas, 0 nays, 1 absent, not voting.
- House Bill 2451 (house amendment to a senate amendment): The Senate concurred in the house amendment to the senate amendment; passage on the floor was recorded as 31 yeas, 2 nays, 1 absent, not voting.
- House Bill 2776 (house message received rejecting senate amendments): The House rejected senate amendments and asked the Senate to recede. The Senate voted to refuse to recede from its amendments (motion adopted on the floor; recorded voice result declared adopted; no roll‑call tally printed in the transcript excerpt).
- Senate Bill 586 (house amended): The Senate concurred in the house amendments and passed the bill; the Senate also voted to make the bill effective from passage. Recorded tallies were 33 yeas, 0 nays, 1 absent, not voting for both actions.
Other floor business
- The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee reported a series of bridge and roadway naming resolutions (many House concurrent resolutions). The Senate considered those naming resolutions together and declared them adopted by voice vote.
- The Government and Finance Committee reported on a study request regarding smoke shops and products they sell; that report was received on the floor and referred per the usual committee process.
Context and procedure
Several items were handled using unanimous consent, committee reports, or suspension of rules to take up and consider grouped resolutions simultaneously. Where the Senate voted to make bills effective immediately (motions to make effective from passage), those votes required and secured supermajorities. Multiple points of order and procedural motions (previous question, motions to reconsider, motions to concur) were raised and resolved during floor debate, particularly around Senate Bill 4 74.
What the record shows — and what it does not
The transcript records the motions, committee reports and the recorded tallies noted above. The transcript excerpt does not include the full text of the bills, fiscal notes, committee substitute language beyond brief sponsor summaries, nor the individual roll‑call vote of each senator (the transcript gives overall tallies for recorded machine votes but not a senator‑by‑senator roll call in the excerpt provided). Where the transcript identified sponsors or floor explainers, those identifications are recorded below in the speaker list; where a speaker was identified only by chamber designation (for example, “senator from Brooke”), that label is used consistently rather than an inferred personal name.
Ending note
The Senate adjourned after completing the day's business. Additional documentation — committee substitute text, enrolled bills, fiscal notes and a full journal with a senator‑by‑senator roll call — will provide the complete legal text and vote records for each item the Senate acted on this day.
The action came during a tightly scripted floor period in which senators took up committee reports, naming resolutions and a sequence of third‑reading and concurrence votes. Several items were considered by voice vote or unanimous consent; several bills required recorded machine votes. Key outcomes included the passage of a bill authorizing the Department of Revenue to promulgate legislative rules, a measure creating a $125 annual fee tracked by state police for registrants, passage of a bill altering retirement plans for home‑confinement officers and campus police, and final Senate concurrence and passage of a bill that, as the sponsor described it, would eliminate certain diversity, equity and inclusion programs with specific exceptions added by the House.
Why it matters: the bills affect state agency authority (rulemaking), funding streams for mental‑health services connected to state police, retirement classifications for specific officer groups and state policy on institutional DEI programs. Several of the votes required supermajorities for immediate effect or other procedural thresholds; senators used unanimous consent and procedural suspensions at points to move multiple items quickly.
Votes at a glance
- House Bill 2267 (engrossed committee substitute): Authorizing the Department of Revenue to promulgate legislative rules. The Senate adopted the conference committee report and passed the bill on a recorded vote reported as 25 yeas, 8 nays, 1 absent, not voting on the conference report passage. A subsequent motion to make the bill effective from passage passed 33 yeas, 0 nays, 1 absent, not voting. (Explained on the floor by the junior senator from the sixteenth.)
- House Bill 2880 (engrossed committee substitute): Relating to parent resource navigators. The Senate adopted the conference committee report and passed the bill by recorded vote, 32 yeas, 1 nay, 1 absent, not voting. (Explained on the floor by the senator from Jefferson.)
- House Bill 3164 (engrossed committee substitute, third reading): Establishes a $125 annual fee for individuals required to register on the Central Abuse Registry or under the Offender Registration Act; payment to the circuit clerk, enforcement by state police through civil lien procedures, with revenue directed primarily toward mental‑health services for state police personnel. Sponsor remarks were offered from the senator identified on the floor as the senator from Brooke; the bill passed 33 yeas, 0 nays, 1 absent, not voting.
- Senate Bill 4 74 (committee substitute / multiple motions noted on floor): Described on the floor as intended to eliminate certain diversity, equity and inclusion programs in West Virginia; House amendments were read to clarify that the bill would not be construed to affect state institutions of higher education supportive programs intended to meet accreditation standards and would not abrogate rights under the West Virginia Human Rights Act. After procedural motions and votes (including suspensions of joint rules and calls of the previous question), the Senate concurred and the bill passed the Senate by recorded vote 31 yeas, 2 nays, 1 absent, not voting.
- Senate Bill 35 (as amended): Incorporates the contents of Senate Bill 874 and moves home confinement officers and campus police into a different retirement plan. The Senate concurred in house amendments and passed the bill by recorded vote 33 yeas, 0 nays, 1 absent, not voting.
- House Bill 2451 (house amendment to a senate amendment): The Senate concurred in the house amendment to the senate amendment; passage on the floor was recorded as 31 yeas, 2 nays, 1 absent, not voting.
- House Bill 2776 (house message received rejecting senate amendments): The House rejected senate amendments and asked the Senate to recede. The Senate voted to refuse to recede from its amendments (motion adopted on the floor; recorded voice result declared adopted; no roll‑call tally printed in the transcript excerpt).
- Senate Bill 586 (house amended): The Senate concurred in the house amendments and passed the bill; the Senate also voted to make the bill effective from passage. Recorded tallies were 33 yeas, 0 nays, 1 absent, not voting for both actions.
Other floor business
- The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee reported a series of bridge and roadway naming resolutions (many House concurrent resolutions). The Senate considered those naming resolutions together and declared them adopted by voice vote.
- The Government and Finance Committee reported on a study request regarding smoke shops and products they sell; that report was received on the floor and referred per the usual committee process.
Context and procedure
Several items were handled using unanimous consent, committee reports, or suspension of rules to take up and consider grouped resolutions simultaneously. Where the Senate voted to make bills effective immediately (motions to make effective from passage), those votes required and secured supermajorities. Multiple points of order and procedural motions (previous question, motions to reconsider, motions to concur) were raised and resolved during floor debate, particularly around Senate Bill 4 74.
What the record shows — and what it does not
The transcript records the motions, committee reports and the recorded tallies noted above. The transcript excerpt does not include the full text of the bills, fiscal notes, committee substitute language beyond brief sponsor summaries, nor the individual roll‑call vote of each senator (the transcript gives overall tallies for recorded machine votes but not a senator‑by‑senator roll call in the excerpt provided). Where the transcript identified sponsors or floor explainers, those identifications are recorded below in the speaker list; where a speaker was identified only by chamber designation (for example, “senator from Brooke”), that label is used consistently rather than an inferred personal name.
Ending note
The Senate adjourned after completing the day's business. Additional documentation — committee substitute text, enrolled bills, fiscal notes and a full journal with a senator‑by‑senator roll call — will provide the complete legal text and vote records for each item the Senate acted on this day.
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